Unions call for Peugeot boycott

Unions today called for a boycott of PSA Peugeot Citroen following the French car manufacturer's decision to close its Coventry factory.

From tomorrow, the Amicus and Transport and General Workers unions will begin a nationwide advertising campaign urging Britons not to buy Peugeot cars.

The full page ads, featuring the cross of St George, are to appear in the Mirror and Guardian newspapers, with the £1m campaign continuing until car registration renewals in September.

Both unions will also place ads in the trade and regional press and on posters close to Peugeot and Citroen dealers. In addition, they are appealing to the UK's 7 million trade union members to boycott Peugeot and Citroen.

"It's a new approach by trade unions, and will be a lot more effective and less costly," an Amicus spokesman said.

Peugeot expressed surprise and disappointment at what it described as an "unjustifiable action".

"This action also fails to take into account the interests of the 5,000 PSA Peugeot Citroen employees in the UK who will continue to be employed after the closure of the Ryton plant, and whose jobs could be placed at risk," it said in a statement.

In April, PSA Peugeot - which is facing sluggish sales in its main markets in western Europe - said it could no longer afford to continue investing in its Ryton plant because of high costs.

The decision to close the factory and move production to France and Slovakia would mean the loss of 2,300 jobs.

"Companies that seek to sell in Britain should build in Britain," Derek Simpson, the general secretary of Amicus, said.

"We believe the wider British public will want to send a powerful message to companies like Peugeot that are prepared to close profitable and productive plants here in the UK and lay off loyal, skilled employees. A drop in sales will really hit them where it hurts."

The UK is PSA's third-largest market after France and Spain, and unions believe cutting its total sales of 280,000 by between 15,000 and 20,000 would offset any savings from closing Ryton.

Amicus and the TGWU want Peugeot to keep the plant open on the basis of a survival plan developed by unions. The plan suggests cutting a shift until 2010, when a car planned for a new factory in Slovakia could be built in Coventry instead.

Peugeot has threatened to cut the redundancy packages for those laid off and move the Ryton closure date forward from next year.